Thur 27th Jul: SL: Huddersfield Giants v Hull FC KO 20:00 (Sky)

[meast]

6 minutes ago, daz39 said:

That was more akin to the Huddersfield Giants of 2022, we just wore Hull down and capitalised.

Chris Hill was, again phenomenal for us, what a signing he's proven to be.

Sam Halsall gets better every game and for me would be a shoe in every week.

Connor is starting to find his feet and Olly Russell is so good at organising everything.

Thought midway through the 1st half though we were back to our old ways, missing tackles, all over the place in defence and leaving gaps but to their credit they pulled it back.

It's nice to be able to not remember when we last lost

 

Thought Wilson was right up there with Hill, they were phenomenal tonight.

We showed how poor and unorganised we can be without Russell glueing things together.

Massive few weeks now.

[Ullman]

26 minutes ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Take that terrible run of form away from the start of the season where Smith was sorting the culture out and we're a completely different side. Our structures in attack and defence are unrecognisable. This year was always going to be transition, but he's turned the side around from relegation worriers to playoff contenders very quickly.

I have more trust in Smith than I have any other coach we've had since probably Peter Sharp.

I was surprised anybody would even question whether he was the right appointment TBH. I've said it before but he's brought a unity of purpose to the club that I haven't seen in years. 

[Josef K]

It sounded a good atmosphere last night from the Cowbell Army. 

[meast]

7 hours ago, Josef K said:

It sounded a good atmosphere last night from the Cowbell Army. 

Always is but people are too busy tugging themselves over empty seats.

As I've said before, put our crowds in Wakefield, Salford, Castleford, even Warrington's grounds and there wouldn't be an issue, we'd be getting praised all the time for being noisy etc.

Edited July 28, 2023 by meast

[meast]

Onto the game, I really thought we were in for it when Fash walked past Yates and Cudjoe, Hull seemed to have the momentum.

But bringing English and Greenwood on seemed to steady us a bit and the game seemed to swing back to us.

I didn't think Hull played bad but we smothered them and hit them in the 2nd half to put the game to bed, a game that a few weeks ago we would have lost.

And we did it despite losing Jerry and Yatesy.

Good effort from both teams, it might not have been the prettiest of games but it was a good old fashioned arm wrestle.

[TBC]

39 minutes ago, meast said:

Onto the game, I really thought we were in for it when Fash walked past Yates and Cudjoe, Hull seemed to have the momentum.

But bringing English and Greenwood on seemed to steady us a bit and the game seemed to swing back to us.

I didn't think Hull played bad but we smothered them and hit them in the 2nd half to put the game to bed, a game that a few weeks ago we would have lost.

And we did it despite losing Jerry and Yatesy.

Good effort from both teams, it might not have been the prettiest of games but it was a good old fashioned arm wrestle.

This - great effort from both teams.

[Wolford6]

Hull's halfbacks were below par; that was the difference on the night.

I thought the referee did well.

[boris74]

For a side fighting to get into the play offs without much room for error I thought Hull were very poor. Probably showed why they shouldnt and wont be a play off side in 2023.

Looking for positives the side still shows effort in defence and this time last year the result would more likely be a 30 point defeat! 

Total faith in TS to turn it around and the high turnover of players was always needed and it will happen but its certainly not a quick fix. I would be tempted to give the likes of Staveley, Balmforth and Martin a few games now in place of the likes of Dwyer and Satae who are moving on next year and not performing consistently to the level needed.

Agree about the referee, thought he had a very good game and deserves credit.

[daz39]

11 hours ago, Josef K said:

It sounded a good atmosphere last night from the Cowbell Army. 

It was! imagine that noise in a smaller ground, it would be raved about.

[daz39]

Having watched the game back i now realise how good Sam Halsall and Ollie Russell were for us, they were outstanding and we are a far better teamf ro having Ollie in it, he is turning into a very good organising half-back with his calmness and attitude, allowing Jake and Tui to play more, it's no coincidence our bad spell came when he was mssing.

Halsall caught everything thrown at him including knees and boots and was probably the best threequarter on the pitch last night.

Shame we lost Jez and Yatesy, hopefully they aren't too bad.

I though Hull were very reliant on Clifford who i thought tried really hard but had no help, i hadn't even realised Trueman was playing till that brain fart that probably won us the game, is he always that ineffective or did we just do a reallygood job on him Hull fans?.

In Watto we trust, hurrah for the Claret & Gold!

[GIANTSTRIDES]

2 hours ago, daz39 said:

Having watched the game back i now realise how good Sam Halsall and Ollie Russell were for us, they were outstanding and we are a far better teamf ro having Ollie in it, he is turning into a very good organising half-back with his calmness and attitude, allowing Jake and Tui to play more, it's no coincidence our bad spell came when he was mssing.

Halsall caught everything thrown at him including knees and boots and was probably the best threequarter on the pitch last night.

Shame we lost Jez and Yatesy, hopefully they aren't too bad.

I though Hull were very reliant on Clifford who i thought tried really hard but had no help, i hadn't even realised Trueman was playing till that brain fart that probably won us the game, is he always that ineffective or did we just do a reallygood job on him Hull fans?.

In Watto we trust, hurrah for the Claret & Gold!

Tough grind that and i thought we just about edged it, Hull looked more dangerous than the Giants in spells but i think we looked the fitter side and were finishing the game stronger. I've not been Russel's biggest fan but i thought he played as well as iv'e ever seen him play and Conner looked better as well, Onward and upwards hopefully.

Is there a rumour that swift is coming to the Giants next year or have i dreamed it, he would be a good signing if it's true, I would be happy with him and Halsall , Gerry can't go on for ever.

[MZH]

5 hours ago, Wolford6 said:

Hull's halfbacks were below par; that was the difference on the night.

I thought the referee did well.

Disagree. I thought Huddersfield's forwards bossed the game and we didn't get the field position to let Clifford and Trueman ask enough questions. We found yards really hard to come by and the good attacking opportunities we did have were generally from penalties or Hudds mistakes. 

Don't get me wrong, they weren't great, but I think the main difference between the teams was the packs.

[Ullman]

4 hours ago, daz39 said:

Having watched the game back i now realise how good Sam Halsall and Ollie Russell were for us, they were outstanding and we are a far better teamf ro having Ollie in it, he is turning into a very good organising half-back with his calmness and attitude, allowing Jake and Tui to play more, it's no coincidence our bad spell came when he was mssing.

Halsall caught everything thrown at him including knees and boots and was probably the best threequarter on the pitch last night.

Shame we lost Jez and Yatesy, hopefully they aren't too bad.

I though Hull were very reliant on Clifford who i thought tried really hard but had no help, i hadn't even realised Trueman was playing till that brain fart that probably won us the game, is he always that ineffective or did we just do a reallygood job on him Hull fans?.

In Watto we trust, hurrah for the Claret & Gold!

To answer your question, Trueman has been playing very well since he got back up to speed from his injury. His brain explosion was probably born out of frustration at his own and the team's performance.

[Ullman]

26 minutes ago, MZH said:

Disagree. I thought Huddersfield's forwards bossed the game and we didn't get the field position to let Clifford and Trueman ask enough questions. We found yards really hard to come by and the good attacking opportunities we did have were generally from penalties or Hudds mistakes. 

Don't get me wrong, they weren't great, but I think the main difference between the teams was the packs.

We were also badly hampered by losing both of our centres. Sutcliffe and Scott have been among our best players all year.

[Ullman]

5 hours ago, boris74 said:

For a side fighting to get into the play offs without much room for error I thought Hull were very poor. Probably showed why they shouldnt and wont be a play off side in 2023.

Looking for positives the side still shows effort in defence and this time last year the result would more likely be a 30 point defeat! 

Total faith in TS to turn it around and the high turnover of players was always needed and it will happen but its certainly not a quick fix. I would be tempted to give the likes of Staveley, Balmforth and Martin a few games now in place of the likes of Dwyer and Satae who are moving on next year and not performing consistently to the level needed.

Agree about the referee, thought he had a very good game and deserves credit.

Would love to see Lewis Martin get a chance. I've seen him playing for the reserves and he looks a real prospect.

[meast]

2 hours ago, GIANTSTRIDES said:

Tough grind that and i thought we just about edged it, Hull looked more dangerous than the Giants in spells but i think we looked the fitter side and were finishing the game stronger. I've not been Russel's biggest fan but i thought he played as well as iv'e ever seen him play and Conner looked better as well, Onward and upwards hopefully.

Is there a rumour that swift is coming to the Giants next year or have i dreamed it, he would be a good signing if it's true, I would be happy with him and Halsall , Gerry can't go on for ever.

More than a rumour from my understanding, it just hasn't been announced.

Also a strong rumour that we are looking to sign Tom Davies too, those 2 and Halsall would do me with cover if we needed it.

[meast]

1 hour ago, MZH said:

Disagree. I thought Huddersfield's forwards bossed the game and we didn't get the field position to let Clifford and Trueman ask enough questions. We found yards really hard to come by and the good attacking opportunities we did have were generally from penalties or Hudds mistakes. 

Don't get me wrong, they weren't great, but I think the main difference between the teams was the packs.

I agree, our pack were dominant at times allowing Tui, Russ and Connor to get the better of Clifford, Trueman at al.

Hill was monstrous, possibly the best I've seen him for years, certainly the best game he's had for us.

[Ullman]

8 minutes ago, meast said:

I agree, our pack were dominant at times allowing Tui, Russ and Connor to get the better of Clifford, Trueman at al.

Hill was monstrous, possibly the best I've seen him for years, certainly the best game he's had for us.

That was the best game I've seen Hill have in a very long time.

[GIANTSTRIDES]

1 hour ago, meast said:

More than a rumour from my understanding, it just hasn't been announced.

Also a strong rumour that we are looking to sign Tom Davies too, those 2 and Halsall would do me with cover if we needed it.

Thanks for that

[Wellsy4HullFC]

13 hours ago, boris74 said:

For a side fighting to get into the play offs without much room for error I thought Hull were very poor. Probably showed why they shouldnt and wont be a play off side in 2023.

Looking for positives the side still shows effort in defence and this time last year the result would more likely be a 30 point defeat! 

Total faith in TS to turn it around and the high turnover of players was always needed and it will happen but its certainly not a quick fix. I would be tempted to give the likes of Staveley, Balmforth and Martin a few games now in place of the likes of Dwyer and Satae who are moving on next year and not performing consistently to the level needed.

Agree about the referee, thought he had a very good game and deserves credit.

Satae had a poor game, but he's been brilliant the rest of the season. Has unstoppable (literally at one point) against Cas the other week.

[daz39]

Satae destroyed us at the Kcom a couple of months back so i was fearing the worse, he looked a shadow of that player this time.

[Old Frightful]

7 hours ago, daz39 said:

Satae destroyed us at the Kcom a couple of months back so i was fearing the worse, he looked a shadow of that player this time.

I wonder if Catalans are scrabbling down the back of the sofa to try and find the receipt.

[Josef K]

On 28/07/2023 at 11:30, daz39 said:

It was! imagine that noise in a smaller ground, it would be raved about.

I wouldn’t worry about it daz, even at smaller grounds there can still be a poor atmosphere. 

[Ullman]

On 29/07/2023 at 10:16, daz39 said:

Satae destroyed us at the Kcom a couple of months back so i was fearing the worse, he looked a shadow of that player this time.

He did the same to Cas a couple of weeks back but to say he had an off night on Thursday would be putting it mildly.